France: Far-Right Leader's Party Suspension Overturned

A French court has overturned the suspension of the far-right leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, from the party he co-founded, the National Front.



The the National Front had suspended Le Pen's membership in May and said that an extraordinary general meeting would decide within three months whether to strip him of his status as honorary president.



His suspension was a result of a family feud with his daughter, Marine Le Pen, the current leader of the party, that reportedly came to a boiling point over his remarks on the World War II when he claimed that the Nazi gas chambers used during the Holocaust were a "mere detail".



He also reportedly defended France's Marshal Petain who had sided with the Nazis during the war, claiming Petain had not betrayed northern Europe.



Marine Le Pen has since voiced her opposition to her father's candidacy, saying her father had "entered a veritable spiral between a scorched earth strategy and political suicide".



The High Court of Nanterre, however disagreed and on Thursday canceled the suspension of Jean-Marie Le Pen, 87, from his party and ordered the National Front to restore his membership.



"The party should restore all rights of Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen attached to his membership and that of his position as an honorary president," the court ruling said.



Commenting on the decision, Marine Le Pen said on French TV Itele that she would appeal the verdict.



Jean Marie Le Pen has been convicted several times for racism, inciting racial hatred and denying or minimizing the Holocaust, which are considered crimes in France.



The anti-immigration party came first in France in last May's European elections with about 25 percent of the vote, the party's greatest electoral success in its 42-year history.



However, it made no gains in France's local elections in March. - Ile-de-France